Spending on agency and consultancy staff similar to other boroughs says Haringey Borough Council

Haringey Borough Council says spending on agency and consultancy staff is in line with other London boroughs.

The comments come after the council was attacked by the Liberal Democrat opposition for spending more than £65million on consultants and agency staff in the past three years.

A spokesperson for Haringey council said: “Like any large organisation, the council sometimes uses agency staff to cover vital social work and care worker posts.

“Our agency spending is in line with other London boroughs, and we are continuing to work to reduce it even further.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to improve Haringey and the lives of our residents, we also sometimes use specialist staff and expert consultants to support our ambition to transform council services in the best interests of local people.

“Despite government cuts to our funding causing unprecedented change, we have managed to significantly reduce our spending on agency staff by in the last year and they now represent just ten per cent of our workforce.”